The Quest((Celly, Tom, and others,cont from AFOOW)

Melanie

I ran as fast as I could, taking one last glance at the necklace before it disappeared from my view. We didn't stop until we had gotten extremely far away and were completely out of breath. "That was actually a really good plan," I said to John, letting out a little smile of success. "Most of the Capitol agents would probably buy it, but the thing is, I'm not so sure about Lucas. He...he probably knows more about me then I do. Then again, he'll probably never find us."

I sat down on the ground, catching my breath again. I looked up at the sky. It was getting darker now, almost night. "Maybe we should just walk a little farther, just to be sure we're far enough. And then we can camp out," I said. I turned my attention to the boy. I wasn't really sure what he would say about this, or how he would react. Nervously, I said to him, "And, well, uh, also...do you think you would know what direction District 9 is? It would really help if we knew where we're going."

((Kinda long-ish, well...not really. Melanie just thinks too much. )

Melanie

I leaned my head against a branch in the tree I was sitting in. I had been up here for a while, since there wasn't much better to do. Now that I wasn't on missions 24/7, I had time to think, way too much time to think. I had collected some berries and edible plants before that I had found around our camp while John went out to fish. But I still had time to spare, so I found myself up here, in a tree, where I could be alone. The sky was getting darker, and I saw a glimpse of building a fire down below. I wasn't sure where the boy was though. He was probably somewhere down below, maybe finding food or something, or I just couldn't see him. I sighed and looked up at the moon as it started creeping up into the sky. I brought my fingers to my chest, almost as though I was expecting the necklace to be there for me to cling to. Of course, when I felt nothing there, tears welled up in my eyes, and I felt one roll down my cheek. It suddenly hit me how much I missed Lucas, and how much I would give right now just to be with him. Thoughts started flowing through my brain as I clung to the branch I was on. I tried to push the thoughts away, but this time, they wouldn't leave. Instead, they just kept coming. What was I doing here? This wasn't where I belonged. Another tear crept down my cheek.

I suddenly thought of my mom. What would she say about this? I hadn't seen her in what seemed liked decades, but I knew she was a Capitol spy. Whenever Lucas and I had missions that involved going to District 12, we always stopped by at my mom's house. Though trips to District 12 seemed to be rare for us, so I hadn't seen her for a long time. Suddenly, the tears started pouring down my cheeks. I was homesick and I needed Lucas. Why was I being such a crybaby about it though? I looked at John down below the tree. I had to leave. I had to get home, back to Lucas, back to the Capitol where I belonged.

I wiped the tears away, and then slowly and silently crept down from my spot on the branch. My plan was to find my way back to where the necklace was and destroy it so it would send an immediate signal to the Capitol, so that they'd find me. John was a little ways away, so hopefully he wouldn't see me. When my feet touched the ground, I was taken aback when I heard a voice say, "Hello there." John turned towards the voice and I went to stand by him. Looks like I wasn't running away quite yet. I decided maybe I should wait...at least until tomorrow. "I...I..I'm Sebastian," the boy said, as I tuned back into the conversation. I stepped up next to John. "I'm Melanie," I said to the boy. The boy looked scared and hungry, but yet a little curious. I gave him a slight smile, trying to make him feel comfortable. I saw that he was staring at the sword, and I said, "Don't worry. We're not gonna hurt you or anything. Besides, I'm only eight, and well, John, he's nice."

Jason stepped out of the shadow's and knocked the sword out of The Mans hands. Hello. My name is Jason. I was born a wanderer. He turned to The Man and shook his head. "Don't threaten him" He mouthed in the silence. He turned around and extended his arm out in an attempt to shake the boys hand.

Melanie

"Where do you come from?" Sebastian had asked. "All of you." I bit my lip. Since no one had answered the question yet, I figured I should. Though, I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell Sebastian the truth. Would he hold it against me if I told him? I decided it was best that I didn't. "Well, John here came from District 9. Some...muttation attacked him while he was in the woods and he ran away, and made it all the way to District 4...where he found me. I was sort of...well, I, uh, I was an orphan," I lied, "So John decided to take me with him when he left to go back to District 9. And...and then well, it's a long story, but pretty much, we ended up finding Jason out here."

"Oh, him, right," I said. "While we were escaping District 4, he was shot by a peacekeeper. He was still alive, but went unconscious. We healed him up a bit, but he still hasn't woken up. We're not sure when he will..." I took my gaze off the unconscious boy and looked back at Sebastian.